Frequently asked questions

During a course of CBT sessions you’ll learn to:

• identify problems more clearly

• develop an awareness of automatic thoughts

• challenge underlying assumptions that may be ‘wrong’

• distinguish between facts and ‘irrational thoughts’

• understand how past experience can affect present feelings and beliefs

• stop fearing the worst

• see a situation from a different perspective

• better understand other people’s actions and motives

• face your fears rather than avoid them

In your first session, you’ll help me to understand the problem you’re dealing with and what you think you need to achieve with therapy.

In the first session, or two, you’ll be asked lots of questions, probably fill out a questionnaire, have some home assignments set, review previous sessions and plan your next session/s. I’ll also help you to set some plans to achieve specific goals.

The first few sessions will be spent making sure that CBT is the right therapy for you, and that you’re comfortable with the process.

If CBT appears to be appropriate for you, I’ll let you know what to expect from a course of treatment.

After this initial assessment period, I’ll start working to break down the problems into their separate parts. To help with this we will almost certainly ask you to keep records of your thought and behaviour patterns. After working out what we can change, you will be asked to practice these in your daily life.

At each session we will discuss these, possibly suggest alternatives and see how these changes are in practice.

You won’t be asked to do things you don’t want to do and we’ll only work at a pace you’re comfortable with.

CBT is designed to allow us to work with you to discuss life’s problems, which may include work stress, difficulties with relationships, excessive pain, self esteem issues and uncomfortable emotions such as depression, anxiety, bereavement, stress and anger.

CBT is collaborative and so encourages practice, often involving homework tasks, helping you have a sense of control.

CBT practitioners believe that negative emotions are triggered by thought (cognitive) processes developed through the influences of learning and personality. Adverse life events can create negative automatic thoughts. These thoughts are believed to cause mental health difficulties.

CBT examines your cognitive beliefs, helps you identify the cognitive errors that you are most likely to make and develops rational responses to these negative automatic thoughts.

• Focuses on your behaviour and thinking.

• Understanding/analysing your behaviours and that of others.

• Identifying problematic thoughts and thought patterns.

• Changing your view of these thoughts, accepting they’re problematic and challenging their accuracy.

• Developing balanced alternative views to initial interpretation of events.

• Learning new problem solving and emotion regulation skills.

• CBT is well developed and there are many tools to use. Examples would be completion of ‘thought records’, behavioural interventions and activity monitoring/scheduling.